Hindered Rose
by VanitasFajitas
Summary: This story will show why Namine chose to obey Marluxia in the first place, and how she ended up captive in Castle Oblivion. Perhaps her envisionings of living in paradise were a bit far-fetched. Perhaps his kindness is false. Why is she really so important to him?


Further into the arms of night wandered an innocent young girl with blue eyes that revealed her uncertainty at first glance. Anyone could see that she was lost. Anyone could infer that she was unsure of who she was.

The sound of a heart beating steadily echoed throughout the atmosphere. The girl was fascinated by the quiet, gentle noise. Leisurely walking amongst a naturally formed path in the ground beneath her, she stopped to listen closer. Had she heard such a thing?

For just one second, the girl allowed herself to try and reminisce something…anything that may be of significance. Blank. The blonde-haired girl continued walking, not wanting to harm herself by trying to remember more than she could.

A general reaction to a brain with no memories would be frustration, but she didn't seem to mind. She would make new memories…happy ones. Breathing lightly, she took in the view in front of her. This would be her first recollection. She began to ponder; was this something she would _want_ to remember? Were memories like data, and you could simply dispose of them as effortlessly as you could create them?

A hint of a smile played on her lips. She would find the answers soon. She knew she would. The girl gazed up at a wondrous stretch of endless colors, from orange to pink, ornamented by fluffy white objects that appeared to be in slight motion. What _was_ that thing? _Oh, the sky, of course. _

In the midst of the greyish fog, an image began to form. Was someone there? She approached the figure with caution. It wasn't a threat. It was a girl, just like her. Somehow the blonde felt a connection to this girl, but why? The girl that stood before her was a brunette, bright-faced child who seemed to be at quite a cheery state.

"…Hello?" she asked the blonde girl. The little brown-haired girl raised a finger to her lips.

"Shh!" she whispered, holding a mischievous smile.

"Who…are you?" asked the blonde girl in a hushed voice. That was when something notably strange occurred. The blonde girl knew she heard the brunette speak, yet did not see her lips move or even part the slightest bit. But she _had_ heard a voice, slightly muffled by a few giggles, and it said this, "my name is Kairi".

Perhaps it wasn't the voice of the girl who faced her. The girl, evidently deciding that her name _was_ in fact Kairi, waited for Kairi to speak one more, but when she remained silenced, the girl decided to speak for herself.

"Hello…Kairi…" she stammered. Any traces of the smile that Kairi had were erased from her face. It took a moment for her to notice that Kairi had a flow of tears streaming down her face. What was it called, again? _Crying_…

"What's…wrong?" asked the blonde girl.

"Don't let me be forgotten. If I'm hidden by the shadows, don't let me be forgotten." Kairi said. The blonde took a startled step backward when Kairi began to fade away from sight, becoming more transparent by the second.

"Where are you going?" she asked. It was too late. Kairi was already gone. The girl was alone again, left to wander through the vacant depths of hopeless emptiness. It was once referred to as the land of broken promises.

She had been following the path for quite some time, and began to question if there was even a way out. Maybe seeing Kairi was a sign of her escape. Was escape even the right word? She wasn't being held captive; she was just…lost.

She turned to her left when she heard another voice.

"I'm Riku." said a silver-haired boy with aquamarine eyes that were sparkling with both anticipation and arrogance.

"Hello, Riku." she greeted warmly. He responded with a cunning half-smirk, causing her to blush immediately. Was he going to vanish, like Kairi? Were they even people, or simply illusions?

"We'll reunite someday." he said, disappearing. She wondered if those words were even intended for her. If not, then who? It did seem as though he were addressing her. After all, he did introduce himself. _Is someone showing me these people for a reason?_ She continued the road onward. _Even if it doesn't get me anywhere, it has to take me somewhere…_she thought.

Already curious of whom else she was going to meet; the girl considered that one of them may tell her something about who she is. It was a fifty-fifty probability. Yet _another_ voice rang throughout the area. It seemed that the people were progressively appearing more quickly as she went along.

She peered around, yet did not see anyone there.

"_Take care of her."_

"_Sora, don't ever change."_

"_It's my lucky charm, be sure to bring it back to me!"_

"_We may never meet again, but we will never forget each other."_

"_No…you can't…use me for this!"_

"_What happened to my home? My island?"_

"_I knew I'd find you snoozing down here."_

"_They will come at you out of nowhere."_

"_If there are any other worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?"_

"_Confounded Heartless!"_

"_Darkness is the heart's true essence!"_

"_You understand nothing."_

"…_our hearts will bring us together again."_

"_I'm the great ninja Yuffie."_

"_She arrived on the night of the meteor shower!"_

She couldn't take this. She fell to her knees, pressing her hands over her ears in an attempt to block the numerous voices rushing through her head in unison. Not only was she tormented by voices, but also a sharp, patent flow of images. She couldn't handle all of that at once.

Why was she seeing and hearing these things? What did those people have to do with her? Just when she felt her noggin on the verge of exploding, it halted. Just like that, the images and voices merely went away. Standing up, the girl brushed dust off her legs and resumed walking.

Something had changed. Her arms and legs displayed trails of goosebumps, her nose stung when she inhaled and exhaled, and her teeth were chattering involuntarily. There had been an immense drop in the temperature. A droplet of water landed on her nose. Where was it coming from?

She felt another drop trickle down her face, similar to the way a tear would. She felt her hair shift over. What was moving it? She sighed of relief when she realized that it was a light breeze passing through. That still didn't explain the water.

With every other drop, she was growing more alarmed. It certainly couldn't have been raining. Not in a wasteland like that. She wiped a trickle of the water from her cheek, leaving an itch behind. The girl was stopped in her tracks when she examined her hand.

It wasn't water.

There it was, a trail of red liquid spread across her fingers. _I should make sure. It's not necessarily what I think it is._ She touched her lips to her knuckles, poking her tongue out and giving the red substance a taste. _Salty…_It was blood, alright. _Where could it be coming from? _She didn't dare contemplate _whose_ blood it was. The drops of blood were adding up, sliding down her blonde waves and decorating them with faded streaks of red.

For just a split second, there was a moment of utter and complete darkness. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. The girl nearly fainted the next time she glanced at her body. It was all over her.

Thin trails of blood on her legs, her arms, her clothes…_everywhere_. It seemed that a miniature car had driven around on her body and that the tires had tracked blood. At least, that was what it looked like. It was a bit warm, but nothing bothersome.

_This is…sick…_she thought. Bizarrely, the girl was not terrified. She was perplexed and repulsed, yet not afraid. Rather than a drop, she suddenly felt a hot _glob_ of blood fall onto her scalp. Little by little, began a powerful downpour of blood. At least it was no longer cold. _It's…raining…blood…_she thought. _I wonder what's going to happen next._

She looked up at the sky. The blonde girl gasped lightly when drops of blood rained on her eyes, temporarily impairing her vision. Gasping. That was a mistake. She then had a mouthful of salty, this time _scalding_ blood that blistered half of her taste buds off.

Coughing and sputtering, she was able to rid of most of the blood that she had accidentally swallowed. There was a dreadful burning sensation left behind in her throat; it was a similar feeling to gulping down coffee before it has a chance to cool down, only worse. She wouldn't be able to speak for awhile.

The blonde girl tried to wipe the blood from her face, only making the burns worse by rubbing them in. What use was it? There was no shelter to escape the rain. Had her fate already been chosen for her, even before she was offered a shot at life? If someone merely asked the girl for her name, she would've told them she wished she knew.

But it wasn't a name she wanted. She just wanted to know who she was. Was that too much to ask? Every newborn Nobody endures a similar experience. Scattered across worlds, without a clue who they are, and inquisitive as ever, they are potential threats. Their transgressions would only become a reality if they were to fall into the wrong hands, of course.

Nobodies were initially innocent and harmless, but just the simplest influence could change all of that. The ground beneath her was coated in a thin layer of blood. Ultimately, if she were to stick around for a certain extent of time, wouldn't she drown or suffocate? With each question she pondered upon, her apprehension was building up just like the little lake of blood was.

Maybe if she ran, she would come across a way out in time. The faster she did so, the more she felt as if someone were right behind her ready to carry out an ambush.

"You can scream, but no one will hear you." someone hissed from behind. She immediately peered backward, but no one was there. She wasn't going to run anymore. Alas, she feared that she would be stranded there forever. Wandering was her best option, but it wouldn't get her anywhere. The longer she walked, the surer she was that the path just went onward eternally. _Maybe I can find a place where the rain is calmer. _

Her sandals were beginning to decompose, nearly reacting to the blood the way they would to acid. _I won't make it out in time. _What a _miserable_ death it would be. The blonde girl began to weep silently. This couldn't be the end. She hadn't even been alive for a day. She was bald from the top of her head to just above her ears.

The girl was obligated to roof her head using her hands; it was the only way to prevent potentially fatal brain damage. She let a few more tears out as she felt the rain eat away at the skin on her tiny fingers, creating an unsightly mixture of bone and deteriorated skin. She was dressed in third-degree burns from head to toe by that time.

Her delicate hands couldn't take more. She needed to give them a break. The girl glanced down at her formerly white dress; there were countless holes burned into it. She had no choice. Reluctantly, she pulled the dress off and held it over her head for further protection, knowing well enough that her brain was far more important than her dignity. No one was there to see her, anyway.

She was now wearing nothing but white intimates, wincing as she felt the rain of blood burn her bare skin. Even if she were to survive, how would her body recover from this? Anyone in the medical fields would state that she'd be better off left to die, in her miserable state.

"Help me…" she murmured. It was of no use. Who would hear her? Just when she was prepared to give up hope and simply let herself fall into the scorching blood, she saw something. It was distant, but perceptible.

It was a small chrysanthemum in bloom, and was evidently intangible to the lethal blood. To her, it was a symbol of hope. There was a sheet of grey clouds in the sky, slightly parted above the chrysanthemum and shining a glorious, vibrant light around the flower. She ran to it.

After what had felt perpetual, she at last reached the chrysanthemum. The girl reached out an injured hand and touched it. It was her silent cry for help. _At least I get to see something beautiful before I die…_she thought to herself with a faint smile.

The smile faded when she noticed that there was a man standing behind the flower. Recalling that she was so inadequately clothed, she turned away in shame and crossed her arms over her body.

"I'm here to help you, Naminé." he said. His tenor was soft and deep, sending chills down her spine.

"N…Naminé?" she asked with watery eyes.

"Yes, _Naminé_, my love." he told her.

"Will you…take me away from this place?" asked Naminé. He chuckled briefly and held a hand out to her.

"Only if you come with me, Naminé." he said. She glanced down at her exposed, scalded body.

"Hmm…" he contemplated for a moment. Her body was rendered too fragile and damaged for regular clothes. He would have to improvise. Naminé gasped lightly as an enormous rose began to form around her, cloaking her in a dress of delicate petals.

"You'll wear a proper dress once your wounds are healed again." he told her.

"You're going to…fix me?" asked Naminé.

"We will make you like new again, Naminé." he promised. She let herself become a bit lost in his fluffy, pink hair. It strongly resembled petals of a flower.

"Your hair is lovely…it looks like a chrysanthemum…" Naminé said.

"Are you fond of chrysanthemums?" he asked. Not trusting her voice in the situation, she nodded her head 'yes'.

"When I take you to the castle, I'll let you visit my garden. It's absolutely _flowing_ with chrysanthemums." he said. _A…castle? Does this mean I'll get to live in…paradise?_ Naminé began to fantasize about vast castles, standing tall in their magnificent glory. She could only imagine.

There would be a new room to uncover every day. Her bedroom would be decorated by extravagant furniture, and enviable decorations. Maybe there would be a view of an entire kingdom from her bedroom window.

Did others live in the castle, or would it just be the two of them? She could have a wardrobe crowded with the work by the finest tailors. There would be tables the length of two buses linked together, and each meal they would be filled with more mouth-watering delicacies than she could even dream of eating. _I could have…anything…_she thought.

"Shall we?" he asked, teleporting them to the castle. Naminé…it wasn't her fault that she trusted so easily.


End file.
